Arsenal have confirmed the signing of England midfielder Declan Rice from West Ham for £100m plus £5m in add-ons.
The Gunners’ announcement comes after the 24-year-old issued an open letter to Hammers fans saying how ‘tough’ a decision it had been to leave the club.
Rice has signed a five-year contract with Arsenal in a deal which has the option of a further year.
“I’ve been looking at Arsenal over the last couple of seasons and the trajectory they’ve been on,” he said.
“Not last season but the season before, they [only] finished fifth, but you could see the style of play Mikel was implementing.
“Last season was an outstanding season, blowing pretty much every team out of the water with the exception of Manchester City.”
Rice has moved on after captaining West Ham to the Europa Conference League title last season.
He is Arsenal’s third major signing this summer as they look to go one better than their second-placed finish in the Premier League last season.
His arrival follows the recruitment of Germany international Kai Havertz from Chelsea in a £65m deal and Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber from Ajax for a fee which could rise to £38.5m.
“He is a player with tremendous ability, who has been performing at a high level in the Premier League and for England for a number of seasons now,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“Declan is bringing undoubted quality to the club and he is an exceptional talent who has the potential to be very successful here.
“Declan has great experience in the Premier League at only 24 years old. He has captained a very good West Ham team and as we all saw, he recently lifted a European trophy.
“The responsibility and role he has taken on has been very impressive and we are really excited that he is joining us.”
Arsenal succeeded with their third bid for Rice, having had two earlier offers rejected which were below West Ham’s £100m asking price.
Premier League champions Manchester City withdrew from trying to buy the player after they had a £90m offer turned down.
The initial fee for Rice equals the £100m City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in 2021.
